Mandyville

Any secondary character on The West Wing that stops appearing on the show without explanation is said to be in Mandyville. The term was coined based on the abrupt departure of the character Mandy Hampton, played by Moira Kelly, at the end of the show's first season.

Mandy Hampton - the White House's media relations adviser and a main character in Season 1. Although initially an integral part of the senior staff, Mandy's storylines became progressively distracting and silly (an example being her insistence that the White House try to replace one of the National Zoo's Chinese pandas who had recently died), and her character appeared to have been summarily dispensed with by Season 2. A justification given for her departure was the fact that President Bartlet was becoming more of a central character in the series, and it is unlikely a media relations adviser would be given senior access.

Joe Quincy - an associate White House counsel played by Matthew Perry in seasons 4 and 5.

Ainsley Hayes - a conservative commentator (played by Emily Procter) who is hired by the White House to bring in alternative points of view. Though the idea to make her associate (later deputy) White House counsel came directly from President Bartlet, senior staff are less than pleased when they learn about it -- particularly Sam, who later becomes one of Ainsley's best friends in the West Wing. Ainsley made appearances mostly during seasons 2 and 3, though she returns briefly in Season 7 to lobby for the job of White House Counsel in the new Santos Administration. Ainsley probably didn't make a lot of appearances after Season 3 because Procter took on a role in the series CSI: Miami.

Sam Seaborn - Inexplicably never returns from a congressional campaign in California